PUNTA GORDA, Toledo District, Fri. July 17, 2020– Police Constable No. 249, Brenton Garcia of the Punta Gorda police, originally from Dangriga, who has received several awards for his outstanding performance as a police officer, and for going beyond the call of duty, was found dead on his bed, with a gunshot wound in his head, yesterday evening.

His common-law wife made the horrible discovery. Police were called to the residence in Magoon Area, and the body was taken to the Punta Gorda morgue.

Reliable information to us is that when PC Garcia returned home after his shift, he told his common-law wife that he felt stressed, and he behaved as if he was intoxicated.

He then went into his room, and shortly after, a gunshot was heard.

She rushed to the bedroom and saw the policeman lying on the bed, and he was motionless. A post-mortem exam has not yet been done on Garcia’s body, but foul play is not suspected. Suicide has been declared to be the cause of his death.

It is not known why Garcia took his life. His burial is scheduled to take place in Dangriga on Friday, July 24, and a prayer service will be held for him at 7:00 Thursday evening at his family’s home in Dangriga.

Garcia’s brother said that he will lie in state at the Sacred Heart Church in Dangriga at 9:00 Friday morning, and the funeral service will commence at 10:00 a.m.

Among the many comments that friends of Garcia posted on his Facebook page is the following: “Bro, you have overcome many obstacles in the past. I just don’t understand why, but [we] need to find ways to accept. RIP, my brother.”

In November of last year, when asked on his Facebook page what he wanted to be written on his tombstone, Garcia had said, “Here lies a very good man, who lived his life to the fullest. His motto: real men stay faithful; they don’t have time to go for another woman, because they are too busy looking for ways to better love their own”.

He will be buried with police honors in Dangriga.